Did I just kill my beer?

For my second brew I decided to do Northern Brewers Bourbon Barrel Porter.

Fermentation looked to have completely stopped after 3 days. On day 5 I racked it to the secondary. It had now been over 2 weeks on the secondary and my gravity reading is 1.1.

Did or can you rack it to a secondary too early? How can I correct this? Pitch more yeast? Wait it out? Help please!

FYI - This is my first batch using a secondary. My first batch overall turned out great using only a primary.

did you mean 1.010? 1.100 is extremely high, even for a starting gravity. no way that could be your final gravity.

I have not yet added the bourbon

NO I meant 1.100. I thought it was very strange. I tasted it from my thief and it tasted okay. Fairly weak but certainly not bad.

The krausen fell and there were very little bubbles on top, No action in the airlock at all.

ok, i just figured out what's going on here... you mean 1.1% alcohol potential, which is equal to 1.015 specific gravity. your beer is doing exactly what it's supposed to do.

if potential alcohol was at 0.0, that would mean you were holding a cup of pure water.

redwings0102 said:

NO I meant 1.100. I thought it was very strange. I tasted it from my thief and it tasted okay. Fairly weak but certainly not bad.

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1.1 is extremely sweet still. i'd repitch, and at that gravity, you should have weeks of fermentation yet. it probably stuck due to the yeast struggling. that's the original gravity of a double iipa, or a barley wine.

lumpher said:

1.1 is extremely sweet still. i'd repitch, and at that gravity, you should have weeks of fermentation yet. it probably stuck due to the yeast struggling. that's the original gravity of a double iipa, or a barley wine.

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So repitch the same yeast and let her go? Thanks I didn't know if that was possible or not. Look's like I'll be heading out for another Wyeast pack.

the reason your beer tastes weak is because it's flat. it will be fine after you bottle.

most beers finish at 1.015 SG (specific gravity), like your beer did. why didn't it go down to 1.000? because there is still unfermentable sugars dissolved in your beer. that's where the color and flavor come from.

listen to me, redwings. lumpher doesn't understand what you are trying to say. he still thinks you mean 1.100 SG, not 1.1% potential alcohol (which is definitely what you are reading).

Dogphish said:

listen to me, redwings. lumpher doesn't understand what you are trying to say. he still thinks you mean 1.100 SG, not 1.1% potential alcohol (which is definitely what you are reading).

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i understand the possibilities and that either way is possible. what i'm implying is that it needs to be clear if it's alcohol % or gravity. i wasn't the 1 taking the reading, so i'm not going to assume he's wrong, dogphish. if it's 1.1%, let it go longer. if it's 1.100 gravity and has been racked, too much viable yeast has been removed, and more needs to be added. i don't see how it could be 1.100 with that recipe, either

Dogphish said:

listen to me, redwings. lumpher doesn't understand what you are trying to say. he still thinks you mean 1.100 SG, not 1.1% potential alcohol (which is definitely what you are reading).

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I'll double check again first thing in the morning I guess. I was pretty sure I was reading the gravity side not the alcohol but hey maybe I had too many

redwings0102 said:

I'll double check again first thing in the morning I guess. I was pretty sure I was reading the gravity side not the alcohol but hey maybe I had too many

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If you were reading the gravity side then...well, you need to recalibrate your hydrometer. NB lists the OG of the extract version of that kit at 1.065.

After checking again this morning I had a reading of 1.090. While pondering if I had any clue how to read one of these on my drive home from work today I decided to make a quick stop at my local brew supply store. With my new hydrometer sanitized and ready to role I check it again. My gravity now reads 1.024.

It is common for hydrometer to go bad? It is a $10 glass hydrometer, nothing fancy, its not cracked or anything.

After less than two weeks and only a few days in the primary my gravity is right on target for a finished batch. Is it possible that my beer has completed fermentation 3 weeks ahead of schedule? Did I lose flavor from pulling it off the primary cake too early? There appears to be no yeast cake in the secondary AT ALL.

new username?

i have no idea about hydrometers going bad. i guess anything is possible. it IS a mechanical device. i was thinking that maybe your hydrometer was clinging to the side of the tube (assuming that you do your readings in a tube).

it it totally possible that your beer is done fermenting. i fermented a 5% beer in 3 days one time. but, your taste can suffer by doing it that way.

at higher temperatures, yeast ferments more quickly, but it also give off more esters (unwanted banana and clove taste). many advanced brewers leave their beer in the primary for a month and skip the secondary. many of them also try to gradually lower the temperature after fermentation starts so the can extend the fermentation over a full month. you can gauge the fermentation level by how fast the fermenter is bubbling.

always use a hydrometer to ensure that fermentation is done. the hydrometer should give you the same reading for 48 hours before you bottle.

Dogphish said:

new username?

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Haha, my bad. I went over to a buddies who is brewing the same beer as me (he have me the idea). He is the one that got me into brewing. I wanted to see how his batch was going and have a home brew of course I went on his PC and didn't realize he was logged in until he told me. Oops

redwings0102 said:

Haha, my bad. I went over to a buddies who is brewing the same beer as me (he have me the idea). He is the one that got me into brewing. I wanted to see how his batch was going and have a home brew of course I went on his PC and didn't realize he was logged in until he told me. Oops

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He's a nice guy, he just isn't that bright

On another note, his hydrometer is clearly off. The OG of the kit is only 1.065. I'm sitting at 1.020 after 3 weeks and it has finally stalled. Amazingly Redwings0102 has a gravity of 1.024 after a week and a half. I even used a yeast starter.

i don't think that points toward an badly calibrated thermometer. it could be two things.

1. maybe he just fermented at a higher temperature than you did. you could finish fermentation in one day probably, but the higher temperatures would ruin your beer.

2. fermentation usually very active the first week. the fermenter bubbles a lot and the specific gravity falls very quickly. so, if you charted the drop in specific gravity of the batches on a graph, the curve would probably be the same.